Your financial reality is what you make of it. Mine would better if I didn't have the financial responsibilities that I have, but life is life. I'm not blaming George Bush or our government. My mistakes have consequences, just like yours.

ADVICE FOR AMERICANS:
Stop blaming everybody else for YOUR problems and you will be a lot less miserable. We have gotten to the point of placing blame on everyone but ourselves. We need to STOP it!!!

This is a bleak Christmass for many people this year. As a disabled Veteran I see many of the homeless Veterans flocking to the local VA Medical Center for help- a warm bed, food , clothing etc. and the numbers are so large that a special homeless clinic had to be started along with a special clinic fot thos returning from combat. Mental Health and Physical Therapy are overwhelmed and have started to outsouce Vets to private care. As for myself, my wife and I still have our home and are surving for now but there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. When you feel down try to think of all those who have it much worse--no roof over their heads, the elderly woman eating pet food, or going hungry to buy medications, the homeless who would gladly work if there were jobs and if they could get a job without an address, families who for the first time find themselves and their children on the street or looking for a shelter and soup kitchens to eat. the list goes on.
Take a second of your time to rember and support our troops in Iraq by going to "Lets SayThanks.com" a Xerox site that allows you to send a holiday to one of our military stationed in a combat zone. Who the card goes to is picked at random but whoever gets it will appreciate it.

As a soon-to-be military retiree, my heart goes out to you and the millions of veterans who deserve the BEST from our government - NOT to be categorized with those lazy persons who have wasted their lives on welfare and food stamps. Veterans do NOT get free money from the government, but compensation for their patriotic, honorable and selfless service (except for police officers, firemen, and EMTs, civilians know nothing about this).

I can buy everybody I know a whole 12 days of christmas... I work for a troubled morgage broker.... In fact after I'm gold plate my toilet seat I'm gonna buy everybody a round of fine triple malt scotch.

Gotta spend that tarp money quick... ya' never know that commie president might make me give it away to some welfare mother.

Actually I can't even afford gas to drive 100 miles to be with my girlfriend and her family. Got to the can and bottle recycling place five min too late to cash in my recyclables. My job crashed when the economy did and there is no other employment... and I refuse to go to welfare. Recently I had to sell my rifle that I use to shoot coyotes who try and eat my sheep and the cost of hay is so damn high that I had to get rid of half my herd.

I could afford one partridge.... but only one and only if they are on sale.... like already expired and starting to stink with a big orange sticker that says 75% off.

I'm really sorry to hear of your fate...You can at least have lamb stew and you can turn their wool into yarn and knit new clothes. I do admit that does take a lot of time. I really did that and took two sheep's worth of wool and clean it and carded it and spun it into wool and made several items with it.